Bahrain Mirror: The Committee on the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of the United Nations issued a detailed report on Bahrain, tackling a number of cases, mainly discrimination practiced against Shia majority in Bahrain.

The Commission issued a number of recommendations on Bahrain, giving the government 24 months to provide information on their implementation.

Following is the recommendations to the government of Bahrain: 

1. The Committee recommends that the government of Bahrain support the global commitment to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals on the basis of the principles of participation, accountability and non-discrimination.

2. The Committee recommends that the government of Bahrain consider ratifying the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

3. The Committee recommends that the government of Bahrain take the measures necessary, in consultation with the communities affected, for the restoration of damaged religious sites.

4. The Committee recommends that the government of Bahrain ensure that everyone can exercise their right to take part in cultural and religious life without discrimination or undue restrictions.

5. The Committee recommends that the government of Bahrain guarantee non-discriminatory access to compulsory and free-of-charge primary and secondary education to all children, including stateless children and children deprived of their liberty.

6. The Committee recommends that the government of Bahrain adopt an approach to poverty reduction, focusing on those most affected.

7.  The Committee recommends that the government of Bahrain adopt the measures necessary to prevent and reduce statelessness.

8. The Committee recommends that the government of Bahrain establish an indexed national minimum wage, and ensure decent living conditions for all workers.

9. The Committee recommends that the government of Bahrain adopt legislation and a policy framework to combat forms of religious discrimination, particularly in education, employment and exercise of cultural and religious rights without restrictions.

10. The Committee recommends that the government of Bahrain adopt a national action plan and a regulatory framework that require respect of human rights and that victims have access to effective remedies.

11. The Committee recommends that the government of Bahrain stop harassing, intimidating, arresting and detaining religious and cultural figures.

12. The Committee recommends that the government of Bahrain stop disrimination against Shia in education, employment, and the exercise of their cultural rights.

13. The Committee recommends that the government of Bahrainprotect human rights defenders from harassment, intimidation and reprisals, and that it guarantee an enabling environment for civil society organizations.

14. The Committee recommends that the government of Bahrain continue to strengthen the independence of the National Institution for Human Rights to ensure its full compliance with the principles relating to the Paris Principles and is able to carry out its mandate fully, effectively and independently.

The UN also encouraged the government of Bahrain to engage with the National Institution for Human Rights, non-governmental organizations and other members of civil society in the follow-up to the present concluding observations and in the process of consultation at the national level prior to the submission of its next periodic report. It requests that the government of Bahrain disseminate the present concluding observations widely at all levels of society, including, in particular among parliamentarians, public officials and judicial authorities, and that it inform the Committee in its next periodic report about the steps taken to implement them. 

Arabic Version